(WESTFIELD, NJ) -- On Sunday, May 15th at 5:00pm, the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra conductor Mark Hyczko will be leading the St. Paul’s Choir with Orchestra for the annual Masterworks Concert at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The performance concludes the 2021-22 season of programming for the Steeple Concerts series at the Church, where Hyczko is also the Director of Music. 

The concert features Felix Mendelssohn’s thrilling Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang” (“Song of Praise”). The symphony opens with orchestra alone and concludes with sections for combined soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The texts are drawn from the Luther Bible with an emphasis on the Psalms, together with Mendelssohn’s arrangement of the well-known Lutheran chorale, “Now thank we all our God.”

Lobgesang was composed to mark the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press and premiered at the Gutenberg Festival in Leipzig in 1840. The opening and closing choral sections highlight the triumphant mood of the entire work with a quote from Psalm 150, “Everything that has breath praise the Lord, Hallelujah!”. The symphony is a fitting and exciting celebration of the return of live music.

The concert features the choir and soloists of St. Paul’s Church and community together with a professional orchestra, including many members of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra. Tickets for the Masterworks Concert priced at $35 for adults and $15 for students and are available for purchase online. Parking for the concert is available in the St. Paul’s parking lot off Euclid Avenue or on St. Paul’s Street next to the church.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church is located at 414 East Broad Street in Westfield, New Jersey. Following State of NJ and Diocesan guidelines this past year, they are limiting the concert to approximately 60 minutes in length with no intermission. Concertgoers may opt to wear a mask while in the building and audience members will be asked to remain seated in their assigned pew for the duration of the concert. The guidelines and concert programs are subject to revision, and concerts may be streamed online in lieu of in-person attendance depending on updated state guidelines. Click here for current COVID safety information.